Dakota Voice: Recommended Reading

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Anonymous said...: "A Colorado SWAT team forcibly recently removed an 11-year-old boy from his family, which has some critics crying foul. But the sheriff involved with the case says the force used was justifiable."

Threat of lethal force was used against this family for what amounts to government interference in a family matter. For the Sheriff to claim that he was simply acting under orders does not persuade me. We heard similar claims from defendants at Nurenberg. If the magistrate's order was for them to set the house on fire in order to get the family to come out, would the Sheriff have complied? If they had been told to shoot the parents on sight so as to prevent them from interfering would the Sheriff have complied? I am sure that there is some point where he or his men would have said, "NO! That's not right." Could they not see that the order given for the reason given was an extreme over-reaction to a minor problem?

I am pretty sure a jury in a civil lawsuit will see this situation for the abuse of power that it is. I suspect this family will be moving out of their mobile home soon, and the Sheriff and Magistrte may be looking to rent it.; 1/15/2008 11:59 AM